My interview with boardmember and Image Comics writer Charles Soule!

[Dusto]

Sure. It's set in the Warring States period, which was a time when China was carved up into all these little fiefdoms after an invasion by a bunch of foreigners deposed the previous emperor. Sort of Wild-West-y. An exiled old emperor living in a shithole town in the middle of nowhere comes up with a plan to regain his power by creating a new Taoist god (Taoism was just starting to emerge back then - it was the hot new cult). The idea is that an emperor with a new, exciting god on his side should be able to rustle up an army lickety-split. He enlists the aid of a corrupt local priest to get it done, and they come up with an elaborate ritual to "create" the new deity. They invite the local populace (nobles, poor folks, etc.) to come watch it happen. It's all just a bunch of made up BS, of course, but it's going to look impressive.

At the ritual, everything goes sideways, and a young temple acolyte named Jian is accidentally anointed as the new god. The emperor and the priest decide that having a living god isn't such a bad thing after all, and start manipulating him into doing what they want. Over time, Jian starts to realize that he's got the power, not the old dudes, and he doesn't really have to do what they say - not with the thousands of followers he's beginning to amass.

And then one day he accidentally cuts himself and heals up in seconds, Wolverine style. Hmm.

That's the basic setup - lots of cool Chinese history stuff, epic battles, some very early versions of kung fu, battle monks, assassins, a bad guy called the Dumpling, gods, magic and plenty more. Now that I'm remembering what's in that book, I feel like I really should do something with it.

I'm insanely busy at the moment, but at some point you and I should swap books. One of the novels I'm currently trying to sell is set in the early Qing Dynasty (when, again, a bunch of foreigners came in and stirred up trouble), and it also contains some cool Chinese history, epic battles, later versions of kung fu, battle monks, assassins, a good gal named the Foul-Mouthed Phoenix, Chinese vampires, magic, and plenty more.

[Mr.Giles]

Of course. Stuff is only worth reading until you can actually read it.

Don't I know it!

[Charles Soule]

I'm insanely busy at the moment, but at some point you and I should swap books. One of the novels I'm currently trying to sell is set in the early Qing Dynasty (when, again, a bunch of foreigners came in and stirred up trouble), and it also contains some cool Chinese history, epic battles, later versions of kung fu, battle monks, assassins, a good gal named the Foul-Mouthed Phoenix, Chinese vampires, magic, and plenty more.

Sounds mondo cool! The Qing was a cool period - full of change, which tends to make for good stories.

[Mr.Giles]

Sounds mondo cool! The Qing was a cool period - full of change, which tends to make for good stories.

History-Nerd Alert!

[Charles Soule]

This is a nerd-safe zone.

You want more? The Qing was when the Manchus took over China (sort of like if Texans took over the entire US for a few hundred years.) They beat the Ming Dynasty to do it - and the Mings were one the most sophisticated dynasties in Chinese history (you may be familiar with their sweet vases). They took it from the Yuan Dynasty, aka the Mongols (Genghis Khan and such.) The Qing was also the last of the Chinese imperial dynasties before the country shifted to the various 20th century political systems. The Last Emperor was about the last Qing emperor, and his efforts to hold on to the throne in the midst of the country being modernized, almost against its will. Chinese history is fascinating stuff - but so is most history, I think.

[Jef UK]

Hey look, Bleeding Cool carried Sal and Chrys on TC: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/05/...-fall-in-love/

[stevapalooza]

I did a graphic novel set in the Yuan dynasty. We should start a club called "the awesomest guys alive"

[Charles Soule]

As long as the clubhouse is the ISS, I'm down.

[stevapalooza]

Too awesome even for gravity, yes.

[ThisSpaceForRent]

Charles gets lots of points in my book for always responding to tweets in a very timely fashion! (Still have that download code by the way, Charles!)

Great job on the interview, Jef.